His gaze turned to Sasha, lying peacefully at his side in a wispy white dress she always seemed too adorn in his mind. Next to her lay Vickie and Tiana, the tiny globes of light gathering densely around them, rising slowly through their bodies, both appearing to be sleeping soundly. Their clothing was different. Tiana wore a multicolored dress that seemed to move and shimmer, the colors shifting, never staying in one place for more than a few seconds. It reminded him of a mind that did not know what it was, of a girl who was still searching for herself. Vickie lay at Tiana's side, her dress made of a black so dark that it seemed to swallow the surrounding light, the tiny ethereal globes seeming to slow as they fought through her form. The longer he stared, the more he felt he would be sucked in, into the abyss that was Vickie's being. But it would shift before he'd enter; changing to a flaming red that threatened to burn him while filling him with the insatiable passion that he knew must lie hidden beneath.
“How?” Sasha asked in awe, breaking him free of his thoughts. His gaze fell to his side, where she lay, her own eyes wide with wonder. He leaned in, kissing her tenderly, then pulled away with a mischievous smile.
“I've been talking to Vin when I happen to awaken before you. We theorized that it may be possible to bring other's with us by linking them to our bond with the BC Nodes...well it was more Vin then me...” he explained, slightly embarrassed for taking credit for a theory born more of Vin then himself.
“That's not true, my duke,” Sasha sat up with a stretch, then looked down on her two still sleeping ladies. “Programs can only use facts, things that humans already discovered. The only way Vin would have thought of this theory is only if you figured out the basics first,” she said. He knew she was just being kind, but leaned in and kissed her cheek, nevertheless.
“Where are we?” Tiana asked, staring in awe as she rose to her feet with twirl, causing the various colors of her dress to blur and shimmer.
“This is Trent's mind, Tiana,” Sasha responded carefully. The twirling girl froze, looking at them both in amazement.
“It's so...flowery!” she giggled as she squatted, picking a pink wild flower.
“Blame Sasha for that,” he teased playfully, glaring at his wife in an accusing fashion.
“Well its better then what it was before,” she retorted. He couldn’t help but smile. It was true. Whatever his mind was now, it was much better than it had been before.
“So...why did you bring us here?” Vickie asked as she rose to her feet, unable to completely hide her fascination behind her mask of indifference.
“To show you something,” Trent stood as well, helping Sasha up with him. He thought of particular memory and a cold wind rose from the west.
“What is that?” Tiana asked, wrapping her arms around her bare elbows, shivering noticeably.
“What we've come to see...follow me,” he grabbed Sasha's hand, then moved to Vickie, grabbing hers as well. A feeling of jealousy hit him like a brick, but vanished almost immediately, replaced by that of embarrassment.
“Sorry,” Sasha apologized, the word barely audible as Tiana grabbed her free hand.
They walked, hand in hand, through the rolling green meadows that seemed to expand into infinity. At times, patches of the white “nothingness” would appear when Trent's mind wandered. But would quickly vanish, overrun by the green meadow as they past, as if Sasha's very presence removed the memories existence.
“This is better than last time,” Sasha said cheerfully.
“What do you mean?” Tiana asked from her side.
“Well, this was all white...barren...when we arrived the first time. The meadow only expanded 20 meters in all directions,” Sasha responded.
“You better thank her, Trent!” Tiana shouted, causing him to almost trip and stumble.
“Every day of my life, Tiana...everyday...” he admitted honestly, knowing her scolding born of her love for Sasha.
“Good...but you should do it more,” Tiana teased. A chuckle escaped his lips and Sasha joined in the good humor. Vickie, on the other hand, continued to walk silently at his side, her dress shifting from the warm red to the jet black, with an expression masking her emotions.
They came to a small hill, the first of any size he could recall finding within his mind, which when they crested, opened to a sea of the white “nothingness”. An icy blast of wind struck them and the ladies shrank back.
This is worse than I remember, he breathed. “I may vanish...but stay with Sasha...” he looked from side to side. “And please...think no less of me...” Without waiting for a response he sprinted down the hill into the white, into the “nothingness”, the terrified ladies in tow.
*********
An apparition lay unmoving only a few meters beyond where the green meadow shifted to the ominous, barren white landscape that continuously threatened to reclaim Trent's mind. Sasha almost stumbled when her mind registered who the apparition portrayed, she barely able to maintain her grip on Trent's outstretched hand as he too seemed to comprehend who they were seeing. But he was unfazed and continued to charge forward without pause, towards the despair, towards the waiting teenage Trent.
As they approached the apparition began to solidify, becoming solid, providing Sasha a clear view of the teenage version of the man she loved. His eyes were glazed over and so bloodshot it was impossible to discern their true coloring, while his skin was a pasty white, almost a perfect match for the white landscape that surrounded him. His curly brown locks, though thick and full, were tangled and dirty with a slightly grey hue from what she could only guess was a thick layer of dust. It almost seemed like he was dead, or more likely, moments from death's door.
Her heart cried out as they charged over the border into the barren white “nothingness”, an intense cold layered with despair engulfing her very being, threatening to pull her mind into its frigid embrace. She resisted, tightening her grip on Tiana's rigid hand as she tried to call out to Trent. But his hand slipped from hers, having become ethereal, and as he turned, a melancholic smile on his lips and a single tear creeping down his cheek, he vanished and the world flashed. Everything went dark before a mysterious room materialized around them.
The room was quant, painted white, with a square black table against the near wall, and a peculiar, paper thin rectangular device, which looked like a permanent viewscreen, sitting on its surface. A bed lay against the far wall with a tiny window above, looking over a dense, leafy green forest partially masked by darkness. On the bed lay a teenage Trent, inhaling a strange smelling smoke from a rolled up piece a cloth, or paper, in-between sips from a cup made of metal.
“Where are we?” Tiana asked, her astonishment oozing from every word.
“Trent's room, I'm guessing when he was in school...” Sasha responded.
“Can he see us?” Vickie asked, voice unsteady.
“No.......last time I could not even touch him until later on, when my own emotions matched his. It was strange, but somehow I knew I was an outsider, like how I know he will not be able to see us.” To prove her point, Sasha walked briskly across the room and tried to remove the strange objects from Trent's hands. But her own hands just passed through his and he didn't react, as expected.
The teenage Trent tried to stand, but tumbled off the bed, laughing in merriment. He rolled on the floor, trying to climb to his feet, but tumbled again, this time smacking his head against the bed post. He continued to giggle as he repeatedly failed at trying to gain his feet.
“Mind altering substance?” Tiana asked, seeming frightened to know the answer. Sasha could only nod, her own anger rising out of control at the sight of Trent, completely lost from the world, from reality.
After what felt like hours, Trent finally stood, swaying precariously, and stumbled to a small door in the side of the room, vanishing inside for a few minutes, before returning, staggering over to the table and picking up a short, cylindrical grey tube; a communication device of some sort. After fiddling with it for a bit he
placed it up against his ear, swaying precariously.
“Hey...it's me,” he stuttered.
“I haven't seen you all week...you said you'd stop...” he paused, swaying in place.
“Oh...ok...how about tonight...” another pause.
“Really...ya...no...next week then...ok. I lov-,” he stopped, appearing to have been cut off, dropping the device to the floor. Then, out of nowhere, he began to cry, collapsing next to the device, burying his knees in his chest as he sobbed uncontrollably.
“Wow...he was really bad...” Tiana whispered.
Sasha's head shot around, glaring at her angrily. “Tiana, please...” she pleaded, being stuck between begging and anger.
“I know, Sasha...it just slipped out...I'm sorry,” Tiana squeaked, her eyes showing her remorse.
“What was that discussion about? It sounded like at the end he was about to say...” Vickie's words trailed off, looking between Trent and Sasha, her dress still shifting from the pure black, to the warm red, which Sasha figured had to do with her unstable emotions.
Sasha thought for a moment as she gazed at the devastated man lying before her, and suddenly realized the exact time of Trent's life this memory pertained. She remembered quite well the story Trent had told during their fateful encounter on Earth, of his life before they had met. It made her furious to know this particular memory still lay fresh in Trent's mind, recalling punching him relentlessly as he spoke of this time and his feelings, which she thought were vanished, healed. Except, that wasn't the case, and now she was here, witnessing the time of Trent's greatest failing.
“Vickie...pay attention,” she glared at the woman, only looking away after Vickie nodded, knowing that Trent must have deduced what was going on with Vickie.
“I will...but I do not understand the poi-,” Trent quickly climbed to his feet, walking back over to his bed to chug the rest of the canned beverage. He then stumbled over to a white box hidden under the black table, a cooling unit of some sort, and grabbed another.
They stood, staring in disbelief as Trent continued to drink the mind altering beverages one after the other. He would occasionally collapse to the floor, appearing to fall into a deep daze, but they didn't know for how long since time seemed to have no meaning. When he recovered, he crawled across the trash covered floor, finding his communication device and placing it to his ear.
“Hey...I miss you...and...and...” he stuttered, then froze, suddenly throwing the device to the floor.
“Why...” he slurred, despair filling his words as he once again started crying while dragging himself back to the cooling unit to drink more of the beverages from the metal cans. After a time, he collapsed again, but this time the room went dark, then quickly lit again. Trent still lay collapsed on the floor, except now, sunlight streamed through the tiny window.
“No memories from when he sleeps,” Sasha mumbled to herself as Trent climbed to his feet, grasping his head with both hands before swaying to the table and pulling a bottle out from behind. It was clear and when he took a sip, she knew immediately it wasn't water.
“Alone again...huh,” he shuffled back to the bed, collapsing across its dirty surface.
Oh Trent! Sasha's mind cried out, and again, everything went dark. Flashes of different times, different memories, started filling the space all around them as the day's flew by, faster and faster, as if these memories were vague, Trent himself knowing little of what occurred. She witnessed Trent in a strange classroom, eyes empty, not listening to his instructor, inside, swigging from a silver flask whenever the teacher's back was turned. The scene faded, and Trent was walking alone, down abandoned grey streets, past square buildings of varying colors with slanted roofs. Suddenly, he was on a path, running through a grassy green field, appearing happy and friendly by the way he greeted the many people who past by with strange bags over their backs. But he was ignored, the scene again skipping, now showing him sipping from another clear bottle; again, alone.
“Was he always?” Vickie asked. Sasha knew she wanted to say more, but was reluctant.
“Yes...always alone and always relying on...that...” she pointed to the latest image of Trent, now stumbling down a dark street, alone, heading towards a single clear building in the distance, colored green with a slanted roof of black; the rest foggy and unclear.
They followed close behind him, watching everything carefully, the blurry surroundings seeming to mask a hidden danger. Trent, as they had seen time and time again, pulled out his communication device, placing it to his ear, before returning it to his pocket without ever talking to anyone. He stopped in front of the only clear building, appearing to be his destination. Light poured through the windows and a strangely hypnotic music filled the air.
“Did everything become more vivid?” Tiana asked. Sasha paused, realizing something bad, very bad, was about to happen. Did he mean for them to see this? She couldn't think why. Maybe the memories ran together? Or this was just the strongest, the one affecting him most, and the only way for them to escape this part of his mind was to face this memory? Her heart began racing out of control as she thought of what was about to befall Trent. The horror of what lay inside that house and the scar it would forever leave on Trent's soul. She couldn't allow it happen, her mind screamed for her to act.
Before she realized what she was doing, she rushed up to his back, trying to wrap her arms around his body.
“Trent! Stop!” she shouted desperately. But he didn't hear her, just continued swaying in place, staring at the green building. A white fence appeared across the front. A bark of a four legged animal came from behind and Trent turned in surprise, looking through her, then back to the house.
“Sasha? What's wrong?” Tiana asked from her side, her concerned words followed by a loud laugh of pleasure, floating from one of the open windows.
“This is bad...very bad...we need to stop him,” Sasha said frantically. She knew it was just a memory, but she wanted to stop it all the same, replace it with her, though she couldn't think how. Vickie moved in front of Trent, reaching out to place her hands on his chest.
“Stop,” Vickie commanded, her own breathing rapid, ragged, and Sasha couldn't understand why. But Trent didn't see her, just took another swig from his flask.
“Aren't we still together,” he muttered, followed by yet another sip. “Why wouldn't she want to see me? She said she loved me...” another sip, followed by a single tear. “I need to ask her, I need to know,” Sasha felt her anxiety erupt and desperately reached out, causing him to stop and twirl around.
“Who?” Trent asked, having sensed her presence. But it wasn't enough. She couldn't hold onto her desperation like she had done before. The hurt of that time, when the boy Trent lay in the cold field, left for dead, seeming hundreds of times more severe.
“Sasha!” Tiana shouted from Trent's side, she trying to stop him as he started moving forward, straight towards the house. He pushed through the slightly ajar gate in the white fence, then shuffled down a red stone walkway flanked by dark green bushes with tiny, needle-like leaves.
“We shouldn't watch,” she trembled, holding Tiana back as Trent continued moving towards the house. Vickie didn't listen, walking with him, appearing to hold his hand.
“Vickie?” she didn't shout, just questioned. Vickie glanced over her shoulder, a sad smile of understanding barely visible on her lips.
“This is why he brought me,” Vickie said plainly. That’s wrong, Sasha wanted to scream, Trent brought you here to show what substances could do if abused. But no, she realized, that would be too little for Vickie. He needed to shock her, show her something so drastic that she would never be the same. Then it struck her. Of course! Trent wanted Vickie to see something only she could understand. Sasha began to move, pulling the confused Tiana with her, stopping at the bottom of the stairs that led to the entryway where Trent now stood, trembling.
She began to shiver, unable to control her rising tension. She already knew what was goin
g to happen. But she couldn't bear to see it or accept that this pain was still so clearly present in Trent's heart.
He took the first step. “She just forgot to call...that's it,” his words were clear, showing little sign of his intoxication. “But what if she did it on purpose,” the next was a whisper as he cleared another step. “No...that couldn't be it...” A battle raged within Trent’s mind, showing through his mumbled words as he continued to climb. “This is it...” he said as he reached for the doorknob. Sasha tried to stop him, but her arms passed through his body as the door swung open.
Moans of pleasure and the scent of sweat and lust, emanated from within, so dense that Sasha felt her heart race. Neither seemed to phase Trent, who walked briskly into the building, across wood floors, and past a stairway that lay just before them. The sounds echoed down the hallway, along with voices, many male voices. Trent's steps echoed lightly as he walked in a daze, sweat covering every inch of his skin. He ran a hand through his curly brown locks, taking a deep breath.
“Game night...it must be,” he stated, reassuring himself, as he continued moving towards the end of the hall, towards the open doorway where the sounds were born.
“Trent! No!” she cried. But he didn't hear her. Why couldn't she stop him? Her emotions were running out of control. What was different?
Vickie cried out in horror. Sasha rushed to her side, time seeming to slow with every step as if her mind was trying to avoid the inevitable by stopping time itself. She came to halt at Vickie's side, eyes closed, trembling.
Look.
Her eyes came open.
In the center of the room lay a circle of black couches surrounding a rug with many plush pillows covering its surface. In the middle of the sea of pillows lay a woman moaning with unrestrained ecstasy as she enjoyed the touch of the many men lying in her embrace, her nude skin glistening in the intense light that seemed to be drawn to her. Sasha couldn't help but blush furiously at the sight of the group lovemaking. Though her embarrassment quickly faded when she realized who this woman was, the woman Trent had spoke of once before, the woman who had further tainted his kindly heart by introducing him to the substances that almost destroyed his life.
The Noble Petty, Complete Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 2) Page 57